Muddy's Training Log

[muddy]

Stats: 40 yrs old, around 6'3" and around 260lbs or so. I had set some goals for the end of 2009, but I've met/passed all these already except the squat. I guess I kinda suck at this kind of goal setting. (Maybe more on that some other time...)

SQ: 2009 1RM goal=405, currently: 3x385 5x365 (new 1RM attempt probably next week)
BP: 2009 1RM goal=275, currently: 1x315 (no recent high intensity effort at all)
DL: 2009 1RM goal=455, currently: 1x455 5x405
OP: 2009 1RM goal=175, currently: 1x185 5x155

That 4th wheel should go up next week on the squat, but talk is cheap. I've no recent 5RM for bench because I injured my left shoulder (not a training-related injury). So BP will be light for awhile until the shoulder is back to 100%.

I was alternating between ME/DE days for SQ/DL and BP/OP, and I did that program for about 12 weeks. I have changed over to try the Texas method for awhile, to see how it feels. Maybe 8-12 weeks of this, and then I'll give in to that itch to try a Smolov cycle. Who knows.

I've backed off the crossfit workouts for now, though I still do a 1k rowing as part of my warm-up, and the occasional 2k rowing or 5x500m w/ 30s rest rowing for some cardio. My rowing times are strong (500m in 1:30, 1k in 3:25, 2k in 7:00), so I'm not so concerned about cardio.

Some past crossfit workouts for future reference and tests:

3 rounds for time: 500m row, 12 deadlifts, 21 box jumps ("Christine"):

On 3/2 - time 14:07 (rowing 5, deadlift 185#, 12" box)
On 4/8 - time 12:05 (rowing 5, deadlift 185#, 16" box)

4 rounds for time: 500m row, 21/18/15/12 push press (not a named WOD):

On 3/8 - time 14:33 (rowing 5, push press 95#)
On 4/11 - time 12:40 (rowing 5, push press 95#)

I'm overdue to re-test one or both of these.

Lifting schedule for now is:

Volume : Mon+Tues
(squat/dl variants+assists on Mon, BP/OP+assists on Tues to keep each day short)
Recovery : Wed
Intensity : Fri

No point in logging past workouts; I'll pick up with tomorrow's.


Last thing: I've really enjoyed this site. I've learned a lot here, and picked up a number of pointers to all kinds of other interesting sites, books, etc. I started SL in 3Q 2008, and it was obvious right away this was a lot better than anything I had done to date. I really don't know if I would have found this stuff otherwise, and stopped wasting my time in the gym with this lame cardio/machine randomly-do-stuff-for-awhile program I was on. Lately I've spent a lot more time reading other training logs, and I suppose this is what made me decide to start posting my own.

[muddy]

Sun 6/21

4 rounds for time: 500m row, 21/18/15/12 push press
Time: 12:50 (compare 12:40 on 4/11)

Goaded into a WOD while helping the wife in the gym. Worse time than in April on this one... hmm... not sure where I lost the time. Too much breathing between elements, I guess. Anyway, not too horrible a time given I've not been doing these lately.

[muddy]

Mon 6/22 - Volume LB

Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 5x185, 5x225, 3x275, 1x315, 5x5x355
Deadlift: 5x135, 5x225, 3x315, 2x5x395
Glute Ham Raise: 3x8xBW
DB Lunge: 3x8/leg (20lbs each hand)

Yesterday's xfit metcon didn't seem to take much of an edge off today.

[muddy]

Tues 6/23 - Volume UB

Bench: 10x45, 5x95, 5x135, 5x185, 3x225, 5x5x245 Shoulder still tweaked, but getting better
Overhead press: 5x45, 5x95, 5x5x140 Done today as additional upper body volume
Pullups: 5x8xBW Last few reps of last 2 sets were pretty questionable
Dumbbell Bench: 3x8x80lb/hand Need to find used 90lb dumbbells on craigslist asap
Dumbbell Rows: 3x8x80lb/hand Same note as above
Glute Ham Situps: 3x12

[muddy]

Wed 6/24 - Recovery

Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 5x185, 5x225, 3x3x285
Dips: 3x8xBW
Reverse Hyper: 3x16x270 (short strap, double leg)
Side Bends: 3x10x105 per side

Back is a little more tired today than I would expect. If recovery by Friday is solid, I'll go for 405 on the squat. Otherwise, that milestone will have to wait one more week. I really don't want to wait... argh.

[muddy]

Fri 6/26 - Intensity

Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 3x185, 2x225, 2x275 1x315, 1x365, 1x405, 1x415 (PR)
Bench: 5x45, 5x135, 3x185, 2x225, 1x265, 0x295 (fail)
Deadlift (conventional): 3x245, 2x335, 1x425, 1x475 (PR)
Platform deadlifts (4 mats): 8x135 3x8x275
Pullups: 8, 8, 5

I should not have even tried on the bench. 265 felt very heavy, and my shoulder still doesn't feel right. I was totally spent by the pullups.

But it was still a good day. 405 was a long time coming on the squat, and I blew by it with 415, and even that didn't feel terribly difficult. That PR will be broken again soon. I had tried and failed a few weeks ago on 475 for the deadlift, so it was good to get this.

This completes all the goals I had set for strength, so it's time to set new milestones. By the end of this year, I would like to hit these 1RM:

Squat: 495
Bench: 335 (with a 100% shoulder healed from the non-lift related injury)
Deadlift: 535
Press: 225

[muddy]

Mon 6/29 - Volume LB

Core
Squat: 5x45, 5x135, 5x185, 5x225, 3x275, 2x315, 5x5x365
Deadlift: 3x135, 3x225, 2x315, 2x5x405

Assist
Platform Deadlift (4 mats): 3x8x275
Dumbbell Lunges: 3x5 each leg, 25lbs in each hand
Side Bends: 3x8x110

The 5x5 weight for squats keeps jumping each week, and each week I have to banish this little voice saying "no way, not this time". And while the last rep of the last set is brutal, they all go up. I've decided to not ask questions about why this scheme is working or for how long, and just ride it out as long as possible.

One more week of lunges and then I think it's time to rotate that out for something else -- not sure what yet.

[zizzy80]

Awesome numbers!! Looks like you've been lifting for a long time!

[LiftingNerd]

What I do before each of my bench sessions is take some 10lbs DB and do 15 side raises, 15 front raises, and 15 rear delt raises just to get blood flowing in my shoulders prior to benching. It won't be too taxing but you should feel a difference. Besides that I have gotten off of the 3 main lifts per session format and do a heavy squat/dead day and a heavy bench day, so I go into the heavy benching while I'm fresh now. I also do a lot more accessory back work now (perhaps you could add it on wednesday). It's pretty sad when you can bench 300lbs but can't row your body weight. Since you are in a texas method routine some might say to swap every other friday with speed work on bench. My idea would rather be to do speed work on monday (5 sets of 3 with 60% of your current best single, leave pride out on this one) and still do the heavy stuff friday. This should give your shoulders a little more of a break as well. I would recommend some wrist wraps for your speed work as well. If you opt not to that's fine, but don't say I didn't warn you if you wake up one day and it feels like someone is driving nails down through your forearms.

[muddy]

Tues 6/30 - Volume UB

Bench: 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 3x185, 1x225, 5x5x250
Push Press: 5x45, 5x135, 5x5x155
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3x8x90
Pullups: 3x8xBW
DB Rows: 3x8x90

The shoulder is whining a little, but it's a lot better. I found pro-style dumbbells on CL for 50 cents/pound, with 90s through 120s available in pairs-- not a bad deal. Our gym is looking pretty cool these days.

@zizzy80: Thanks! I wish I had been lifting a long time. I really regret I didn't know about this stuff 20 years ago (or even 10 years ago, or ...). I was very lucky to stumble across stronglifts just about 10 or 11 months ago. Everything Medhi wrote seemed very no-nonsense, and the SL5x5 immediately made sense to me. I guess that's the typical SL experience. I really don't know if I would have ever cut through all the crap out there otherwise, or via SL found and understood some of the other great resources out there.


@LiftingNerd: Cool, thanks for taking the time to post that. I had considered a 2 day/week bench, where Tues is 5x5 and Sat is DE at something like 8x3 at 60%. I'm going to take some time to think over what you wrote and see how to try that out. Thanks again!

[muddy]

Wed 7/1 - Recovery

Squat: 5x45, 5x95, 5x135, 5x185, 5x235, 2x5x295
Bench: 3x5x135
Reverse Hyper: 3x16x320
KB Swings: 3x10x2pood (~70lbs)
GH Situps: 3x12xBW

[guru]

First, congratulations on the double PR.

Muddy, really - you mean you are only lifting for an year? Those lifts are tremendous. Were you doing Westside before starting out on TM? It's going to be fun following this log.

Bummer on the shoulder holding you back on the bench. Hope it gets better soon.

[zizzy80]

For the shoulder, try the tennis ball. It worked wonders for me. see about 3:05 mark.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8caF1Keg2XU

Also, when it was hurting for me, I did a sleeper stretch and it seemed to help.
http://stronglifts.com/the-only-6-static-stretches-you-should-really-do/


Hope it gets better!

[muddy]

@guru: Thanks! There's a long ways to go yet, though. It has been just under a year since I started squatting and deadlifting. I did gym stuff on and off through my 20s and 30s, but no free weights, and it was really unfocused. Yep, I was doing Westside earlier this year, mainly for the experience to get a sense for how that worked, and also it allowed a little more crossfitting. I found the DE days much harder than the ME days-- no idea if that is typical. I don't know how long I'll keep on this TM variation. It seems to me this year is a good year to tinker around with programs, so long as the weights still keep going up. Eventually I'm sure I'll stick to a given program for longer stretches without major changes, but right now I am learning a lot by running a program for just 12-16 weeks at a time. I think my crappy form is holding me back as much as my shoulder is on bench, but it sounds nicer to blame the shoulder.

@zizzy80: Thanks for the links! I will give that a try tonight and ongoing, and see if that helps.

[Mouse]

Nice big numbers muddy

If you've not done already, have a read of rbtrout's and Jim Slade's logs - a couple of guys you could get some pointers from.